Tales of Violet's Travels: The Rainbow Duck Isles
by ryanxwonbin
Summary: A few fan-made stories I thought to make myself to expand more upon Violet in her journey of discovery. In this one Violet heads to a small island with a few researches to take notes on the wildlife. A seemingly peaceful job, but she learns something cruel...
1. Introduction

The Blossom Duck Isles is an archipelago located about three hundred miles southwest of Thelsis. In the history of the main continent it held no strategical or resource value so no colonization attempts had ever been attempted. Trade ships would sometimes stop near the coast of the islands to make repairs or gather some water inland but the island remained of little interest in the broad scope of man's ambition. Quite recently however a group of scientists and researches began to direct their gaze towards the remote set of islands islands.

Charles was a middle-aged biologist and zoologist who had always found fascination in researching the behavior of animals. Through investigating animals and their nature he believed he could also find new insights in to humanity itself. Besides, what are humans but not animals? Certainly humans were much more advanced; creating civilizations, making wondrous inventions, indulging in the strange world of philosophy. Yet humans also acted illogically and through inexplicable fluctuating emotions despite their ability to think and form coherent thoughts.

Charles had been invited by his old friend, Roy, to join his team of researches in heading towards the Blossom Duck Isles. The team would be made up of scientists invested in various different areas. Some wished to study the fauna, some the weather, others to map the isles. Charles of course was interested in the animals; namely the blossom ducks to which the islands were named after. But other than these ducks there were plenty of other animals to study.

Accompanying them would be an Auto-Memory doll. 


	2. Chapter 1

Charles embraced hid old friend in a firm hug and the two men let out boisterous laughs. Their voices resounded through the quiet port as the other researches were packing their belongings and moving cargo on to the ship.

"Roy! How have you been!?" Charles exclaimed as he let go.

"Fine fine, how's your wife been doing?"

"Bah, what do you think? Making my life miserable as all women do. I can't so much as hit the bar after work unless I want to hear her nagging. As such, I must thank you my good friend. This trip to the islands is like a vacation."

The two men laughed in unison. They were men in their thirties. Normally they kept their beards untrimmed as these researches cared little of appearances. Their concern was primarily in the pursuit of knowledge. But the night before they had cleanly shaven their faces and their chins held but small frizzles and stubble of sharp hair. The Blossom Duck Isles were said to be unbearably humid and so the men trimmed their beards and hair.

Charles wore a pastel pocket shirt and shorts that barely reached his kneecaps for the journey. He was a man of medium height. The humid weather of the islands they were heading to did a favor for him as his shaven beard gave him a handsome grizzled look. Normally the long unkempt beard he had made him look like a homeless man, much to the chagrin of his wife.

As the two men spoke of old times and made small chit-chat, they were soon interrupted by the sounds of boots approaching them. The audible thump of the pier's wood beginning to close on them made them turn their gaze towards a dazzling figure. Both Charles and Roy had to open their mouth.

Before them was a woman of extraordinary beauty. A blonde woman who tied her hair in neat buns with a red ribbon. A beautiful blue pleated dress and lovely white gloves. Her skin was the color of light milk. The most entrancing of all were her turquoise-like eyes. She was like a refined noble lady; perhaps a princess of some royal family. The girl placed her luggage on the floor.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sirs. I will travel anywhere to meet your request. Auto-Memory Doll, Violet Evergarden at your service.

"O-Oh... Yes, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Roy stammered.

"I was told I would be recording notes and documents."

"Ahh, yes, that would be why we hired you. You'll be working with several researchers, some of which include..."

Charles let out a small sigh. His wife would be quite upset if she found out he was working with such an exquisite beauty.


	3. Chapter 2

The weather at the islands was unbearably humid as had been expected. Charles wiped beads of sweat from his brows as he unpacked his heavy camera set. The video camera which had come in to use only ten years ago was a fascinating thing to be sure. It had the ability to capture pictures in motion and record real life happenings. He had heard that when the first motion video was shown in theaters known as cinemas, the audience had collapsed on their seats and fled in terror when they saw a recording of a tidal wave on screen.

"Sir Charles, may I help you?"

Charles looked at the Auto-Memory Doll that had come to his side. He looked at the blonde figure and frowned.

"You were not hired to carry luggage you know... There was no need for you to help the crew move their belongings," Charles said. "It feels very wrong letting a woman do heavy lifting, you know?"

"I am to facilitate in helping Sir accomplish his goal. Helping the platoon in their embarkment facilitates Sir's goal. It is no trouble."

Platoon? What a strange way the girl spoke.

"Well, maybe you should at least change in to lighter clothes," Charles said looking at Violet. Her hair had become ruffled in the humid air and despite the fact that she seemed to be the strongest out of all the crew (Much to the amusement and chagrin of the other researches), she too was sweating.

"These clothes were granted to me by my employers so that I may be presentable to my clients at all times. It should be no trouble."

"You might get heat stroke," Charles replied. "The air is hot and stuffy. You don't need to be wearing some fancy dress out here. None of us mind. In fact you would probably stick out like a sore thumb."

To this Violet placed a hand on her chin and looked downward as if in thought.

"Camouflage? To hide from the enemy?" she muttered to herself. "It would be troublesome if my clothes got in the way of work."

"The animals aren't our enemies!" Charles said scratching the back of his head and sighing. What a wonder this girl was. "Listen, just change in to different clothes okay? We got some extra back in the ship and I'm sure there are some in your size. Besides, your clothes are just going to get dirty when we go through the jungles and marshes. A beautiful dress stained in dirt and grime is heartbreaking."

Charles watched as Violet looked down once again and seemed to be thinking. After a few seconds she looked back at Charles.

"If it is troublesome to you Sir, I will get changed."

"Right right, go back to the ship," Charles said, relieved to have found that he was able to convince the girl. Come back once you're done.

"Roger," Violet said as she saluted and began dashing back to the ship. Charles frowned again at the strange behavior of the girl. She acted as if she was in a military command. With a slight shrug, Charles began fiddling with his camera and maintaining the equipment. A few minutes later he heard the sound of boots coming behind him.

"You done changing? Le-" Charles turned around and was unable to complete his sentence as he saw the girl. Violet had changed in to clothes the other researches were wearing. Her tan dress-shirt had a few buttons from the top undone and fit a bit tightly on her thin body. She wore small shorts that revealed her thighs halfway. Her hair had now been tied to a simple ponytail to the back than the elegant princess-like buns from before.

"...Sir?" Violet asked as Charles quickly turned around.

...My wife would definitely kill me if she saw who I was working with, Charles thought. 


	4. Chapter 3

For the next few days Violet followed Charles around as an assistant. Typewriter on hand she would jot down any notes Charles would speak. At first he thought to speak slowly to the Doll to give her some breather, but as it turned out Violet was amazingly fast. Her fingers would press down upon the keys of the typewriter like a torrent of rains hitting a rooftop. It seemed as though she would finish typing as soon as Charles would complete a statement. He checked over Violet's notes to make sure there were no typos, and to his amazement, everything seemed perfect. It was more than Charles could ask for.  
They went over many of the different wildlife. From the multitude of insects, the birds, the tiny animals. With each animal recorded, Charles grew more satisfied. There was already a stack of papers piled on the makeshift table made efficient by Violet. 

At one dinnertime the researchers were eating their canned foods and rations. Roy made a small complaint about how he wanted some meat; a small jest. But upon hearing Roy, Violet would take out a knife from her boot and with a spin of the small blade looked over to him.

"Then shall I go hunt something?"

"What!? No no," the researchers all exclaimed, nearly falling from their chairs at the killer look the Doll held. Violet merely tilted her head.

"I have plenty experience hunting before. At times the military would run out of food and hunting was used as a resort to gather supplies. I believe there were some boars that we thoroughly researched, I am certain I could go hunt one." 

...It was disturbing to see the young girl be so calm and measured in speaking of killing another animal. That was clear on everybody's face as they looked at one another. Charles scratched his head. This is what war does to people. What a shame, he thought.

"We'll be fine Violet," Charles said with a small sigh. "One rule we have here is to not interfere with the wildlife as much as we can. We'll only be staying for a few more days, we can do without the meat. But more importantly Violet..." Charles said rubbing his chin. "You should not think so little of a life. Even animals are sentient, can feel, and have senses. Some say humans are closely related to animals and evolved from them."

"Then I am similar to a boar?" Violet asked tilting her head again. This gave the researches a few chuckles.

"Yes and no," Charles would reply with a frown. It was like speaking with a tiny child who knew nothing of the world. "I think I would just confuse you if I had to go over things like the cardiovascular system and such. But understand that a creature that lives and breathes can feel pain just like you do. It walks the same earth just as you do. It has parents just like you do."

"Parents..." Violet would mutter looking down. "Someone like the Major..."

Charles looked over to the Doll. In a way he felt as if he should study Violet and find out what made the girl tick.


	5. Chapter 4

The day was finally upon Charles to study the Rainbow Ducks. He had gone to bed the night before quite giddy and excited and woke up early just as the sun rose. He quickly gathered his supplies and found Violet so that he could head over to the swampy area where the ducks resided. Violet followed the excited researcher dutifully, and soon enough they were upon the area.

The place was a swamp. Murky water went up to their knees and the researchers had to actually searched for a grounded area where they could more comfortably seat themselves and begin their research. They stood a distance away from the brightly colored ducks. Charles had an ever-present smile on his face.

"Look!" he said to Violet excitedly and pointing to a pair of ducks. "See how the one shows off its wings in a wide arc? I can only estimate that it's a mating ritual! A duck showing off how beautiful it is!"

"That would be akin to someone like Miss Cattleya?" Violet asked. "She likes to wear makeup and pretty dresses."

"Yes, but the one showing off its wings is male. Fascinating, is it not? In human society is it women that typically show off their beauty to attract males. But in this case it is the male that must show off his charm. And now look, another male!" Charles said as a third duck came flying down upon.

The third duck too would show off its wings to the female one. The female duck seemed to look between the two males, and after a few seconds, walked backwards rather than forward. At the gesture the two male ducks began attacked one another. They would try to hit each other with their wings, kick, and peck at one another. The battle would last for a few minutes before one of the male ducks, slightly bloodied now, waddled off. The victor duck would begin approaching the female.

"Fascinating is it not?" Charles said. "You wouldn't expect such savagery from such beautiful animals. But here they are, fighting one another to earn the right to mate. To them it is an attempt to survive and live on."

"I see," Violet replied. "It is like war. Is this what you meant by humans being similar to animals?"

Charles looked back at Violet with a surprised look. The girl, while a bit lacking in knowledge, was clearly intelligent and capable.

"...Yes, that is correct," Charles said with a sad smile. Another sigh and he went back to looking at the ducks.

A few hours later, after having taken a small break, the researches came across a duck caring for a pair of younglings. The researches as usual plotted themselves and began observing and taking notes.

"That's the mother duck..." Charles said. "Make note of what it does. She's going around the nest and picking up small fish from the nearby areas. But she never strays more than fifty feet away to ensure the survival of her kids. When she catches a fish, she places it down upon a rock and pecks at it with her beak. She breaks apart the fish and then feeds it to her babies."

Charles and Violet continued to watch. The mother duck caught a small fish and fed both of its young. But considering how small the prey was, it did not seemed the young were satisfied as they cried more. And so the mother went away again in search of food. But then an unexpected twist would happen.

Charles eyes lit up in fascination as one of baby ducks began attacking its sibling. The duck would peck at the other one and it would cry out in pain as it was bullied. The beak of the small hatching was not enough to cause damage... But with repeated pecks, the weaker hatching started looking bloody.

Then the mother came back. The mother witnessed one of the children attack the other. It observed quietly, doing nothing.

"Sir, why is she not doing anything?" Violet asked. Charles said nothing, too focused on his observation.

After a minute of observation, the mother duck walked over to the child tormenting the other. The mother moved aside the bullied duck, and then began feeding the one who had been on the attack. The mother only fed that duck.

"What is it doing!?" Violet said. Her voice was growing a bit more audible.

"Interesting," Charles finally said. "It seems as though the mother has given up on the weaker duck. I believe it has decided to feed only the stronger of the two, ensuring the best chance of survival and passing on the next generation. The one being attacked is too weak, and wouldn't survive in the future anyway. Just like the male duck we saw lose a fight earlier, it cannot hope to win in the future when it is so frail it does not even fight back."

The baby duck that had been neglected began to cry. It let out wails like any pained creature would and it tried to get back to the nest. But the mother pushed it aside with her wings. The baby would hopelessly try again and the mother would again push it away. The researchers all watched scene in silence. But then...

"Stop! Stop that!" The researchers would all turn in surprise to Violet who let out a loud yell. And then Violet began running towards the nest, her boots splashing against the water.

"Wait! Violet stop!"

Charles and the other researchers quickly began running towards Violet. But the girl was much faster, much better trained than they were. Violet reached the nest and as she did the mother duck raised its wings and let out a threatening sound.

"Why would you be so cruel!? Why would you abandon your own child!?" Violet screamed. She placed her hands upon the weakened baby and was attempting to put it back on the nest. The mother began pecking and slapping Violet's metallic hands.

"Violet stop!"

Charles and the other finally reached the girl. They grabbed the girl's shoulders and hands.

"Let go of me! Is everyone going to watch this happen!? The parent is abandoning the child!"

"We are only observers here, we can't interfere. We told you that from the start. Put the baby down!" one of the researches began yelling.

"No! Let me go!"

Charles watched as the girl began arguing and struggling with the other researchers. He looked at Violet who was now crying, tears freely flowing from her eyes.

"Violet..." Charles said. "As an Auto-Memory Doll, you are obligated to follow our instructions. This would be a breach of contract. Please do not make trouble, if not for us, then for your fellow co-workers back at home. I know it's cruel, but this is what we do as researchers. We study everything that happens. Even if it is cruel. Now please Violet," Charles said placing a hand on her shoulder.

The girl slumped to her knees. The mother duck was now pecking at her body but it seemed as though Violet did not even notice the pain.

"Major..." she let out in between her cries.


End file.
